Liquor treating apparatus



1942- H. F. ENTWISTLE ETAL LIQUOR TREATING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 6, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 WW Q Q I 5 mm mm (i x, h J \1J/J4 /I\\ I ww a y on wv INVENTORS 11.5 E/VTW/STLE MC. LEW/S R.T\W

ATTORNEY LIQUOR TREATING APPARATUS Filed Jan; 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet s FIG. 3

\frfah #7 I I @2 29 22 INVENTORS 32 H.F. ENTWISTLE 27 M6. LEW/S fimewlw.

ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 17, 1942 UNITED STAT LIQUOR TREATING APPARATUS Harold F. Entwistle, Nutley, and Mark G. Lewis, gnors to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 6, 1940, Serial No. 312,670

Cranford, N. J., ass:

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a liquor treating apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus for the treatment of a chilled or heated liquor contaminated with particles of impurities to clarify and heat temper the same.

In various kinds of metal forming and metal cutting machines, a fluid is kept continually flowing over the -forming or cutting tool of the machine and over the metal being formed or cut at the point where the work is being done for the double purpose of carrying away heat generated in the process and of lubricating the tool. Thus in some kindsof wire drawing apparatus, there may be a die through which a rod or wire is being drawn to reduce its diameter, or there may be a bank of several such dies arranged for convenience in a close group. A stream of wire drawing compound is kept flowing continually over the die or group of dies,

partly to lubricate the dies and work and partly. to carry away the heat generated in the dies and work. The compound is ordinarily an emulsion of some suitable grease, e. g. tallow ortallow oil, in water, with anemulsifying agent, e. g. soap. The liquid heated by contact with the dies and work and contaminated with metal dust and with particles of grease broken out of the emulsion, is caught in a pan or suitable receptacle, and treated to be re-circulated for use again. -Such treatment inv'olves heat tempering the liquor to reduce its temperature to an optimum value for re-use, and removal'of the suspended impurities. 1

An object of the present inventionis to provide an apparatus for clarifying and heat tempering liquors of the general nature described, which will require a minimum of attendance in practice and will operate efficiently and reliably and substantially without superintendence to handle a minimum total amount of liquor at a high rate of circulation.

With the above and other objects in view, the

'invention'may be embodied in an apparatus for clarifying and heat tempering a liquid and comprising a liquid storage and settling tank having means to deliver raw liquid thereto partly below and partly. above the level of the body of liquid therein and without causing turbulence thereof and having a vertical partial wall or weir therein to provide a sludge free outlet compartment, all in combination with a heat exchanger to receive liquid from the tank and to heat temper the liquid by heat transfer to or from a circulated tempering fluid which is warmed or cooled by means of a second tempering controlled by the temperature of the circulated tempering fluid.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof in connection with the accompanying drawings in which the same reference numerals are applied to identical parts in the several figures, and in which Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation, with portions broken away, of an apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof;

Fig, 3 is a left hand end view of the tank; and

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of the heat exchange and control means.

The apparatus herein disclosed as illustrative of and embodying the invention may be thought of as particularly adapted to receive drawing compound from a copper wire drawing machine,

or a plurality of such, clarify and heat temper the liquor, and return it for re-circulation. In one particular instance of the kind, the system contained at any given time about two thousand five hundred gallons altogether of the liquor, which was clarified, tempered and circulated at about five hundred gallons per minute. The liquor was water' with about 4% of solids, dispersed as emulsion or dissolved therein, which solids comprised about tallow, 20% rapeseed oil and 30% soap. In the course of three months of operation, about five thousand nine hundred pounds of sludge were removed from the circulated liquor, which sludge contained about 40% of copper and copper oxide in a flnely divided state, the balance being chieflygrease eration, the liquor is delivered to the dies of the drawing machines at about F. and returns from the machines with about 5 F. of added temperature or at about F. Since the equivalent of the entire body of liquor is circulated once every flve minutes, its temperature rises 1 F. per minute; and if it were not heat tempered as well as clarified, about two hours operation would bring it to a boil.

Although for clarity of understanding, the apparatus disclosed is considered as applied to the clarifying and tempering of the particular liquor described, drawn from and returned to machines for drawing wire, the exact nature of. the liquor or of the machines is no part of the invention, as liquors requiring the same general treatment are used in many arts. Hence the machines from which the liquor comes and to which it is. returned are not shown or specifically described.

Contaminated and overheated liquor to be clarifled and tempered comes to the apparatus disclosed, through a pipe connected to a T 2|, which in turn connects at one side to a valve 22' and at the other side to a by pass valve 23.. The valve 22 communicates with a liquor distributor 24 extending into a clarifler tank 25, near the top and near one end of the tank. The tank 25, generally speaking, is a wholly enclosed parallelopiped of sheet metal or other suitable material.

At the other side of the tank, a vertical wall or weir 26 rises from the floor of the tank to the level of the axis of the distributor, and divides the interior of the tank into a relatively large settling chamber 21 and a relatively small pump intake chamber 28, which have free communication with each other over the weir 26. A vertical bafile or inverted weir 29 extends down from the roof of the tank into the settling chamber 21,

below the level of the top of the weir and paraliel to and spaced a small distance from the weir. A clean-out door is provided in any convenient outer wall of the tank as here indicated at 30. One or "more vertically slidable clean-out doors 3| are also provided in' the weir 26. An

emergency outlet for draining the tank opens from the bottom of one of the settling chamber walls as at 32, so that if desired the tank may be completely drained or washed out.

The liquor distributor 24 is an important feature in the successful operation of the apparatus with'its unusually highratio of circulated liquor to totalliquor. As here shown; the distributor is a length of pipe extending horizontally through opposite walls of the settling chamber 21. One end communicates with the valve 22 and the other end is closed. A- plurality of small longitudinal slots 33 is formed in a line along the bottom of the distributor, and'a single relatively long and wide slot 34 is formed longitudinally along the top of the distributor. Preferably the slots.33 are of graduated widths, as shown, narrowest at the inlet end of the distributor and widening toward the other end. In some instances liquor may be fed into both ends of the distributor, in which case the slots 33 will preferably be narrowest at the ends and will widen toward the center.

The tank and its various parts and appurtenances are so dimensioned and arranged that the normal level of liquor in the tank,-while the apparatus is operating, will lie preferably at or a trifle above the level of the axis of the distributor. Liquor is fed through the supply valve 22 I to the distributor under such head or pressure as is necessary to keep the distributor full and overflowing over the edges of the slot 34. The liquor rises through the slot 34 and overflows gently and quietly down over the curved outer slopes of the top haltof the distributor. Since this liquor enters the main body of liquor with only the kinetic energy derived from falling from the edge of the slot 34 body, it enters the main body, or rather floa outupon it, substantially without possessing or to the surface of the main-l that, in the case oi the particular liquor in mind, about one minute is required for the sludge to settle.

pump intake chamber 28, its burden of solid matter will have settled too far below the top of the weir to be carried up over it into the chamber 28. A certain small fraction of the sludge may contain no metal detritus and may be light enough therefor to float and form a scum on the surface. The inverted weir or baffle 29 extending considerably below the surface in front 01' the weir 26 prevents this scum from being drawn to and passing over the Weir 26 into the chamber 23 l5 Near the bottom of one outer wall of the cham ber 28 an outlet 35 communicates with a circulation pump 36 driven by any suitable means such as a motor 31. This pump draws-the clarified liquor from the chamber 28 and forces it through a heat exchanging device and thence to the by pass valve 23 and, normally, through a valve 43 and a pipe 44 back to the machines where it is being used and whence it returns to the pipe 20.

The heat exchange device 40 is not here particularly disclosed or described sinc many constructions for such a device are known-and its particular structure or detailed mode of operation are no part of the present invention. For present purposes it suflices to note that it serves to eii'ect heat exchange between a fluid entering at 38 and. leaving at 39 .(the liquor from the pump 36 in this instance) and another fluid entering at 4! and leaving at 42, without any direct contact or inter-mingling of the two fluids.

In the present instance the controlling fluid is water, driven through the heat exchanger 40 by a pump 45, which takes the water from the water outlet 42 of the heat exchanger 40 and passes it through another heat exchanger 50 and thence back to the water inlet 4| of the exchanger 40. In the exchanger-56, the water circulated by the pump 45 becomes the heat controlled fluid, and the second controlling fluid is brought through a pipe 5|, a hand valve 62 and a pneumatically controlled valve 63 to the inlet 48 of the exchanger 50 and passes out of the exchanger at 49 to waste. According to requirements this controlling fluid may be tap water for cooling or steam for heating, the fluid circulating through 46 and 41. In the latter case a steam trap 52 will be connected to the outlet 49.

The cooling water circulated by thepump 45 runs in a wholly closed system, as shown in Fig. 4. However, water may be bled out or the system through a pneumatically actuated valve 53 and wasted at 54; and water may be supplied to the system from any source, e. g. the ordinary city mains, carrying water under pressure, through a control and check valve 66 which will pass water in when the pressure in the system falls below a predetermined value, and which will not pass water out of the system.

Temperature responsive devices, e. g. thermocouples 66 and 61 are inserted into the cooling water inlet 4! and outlet 42, respectively, of the exchanger 40 and similar devices 58 and 59 are located in the liquor inlet 38 and liquor outlet 39,. respectively, of the exchanger 40. A similar device 66 is located in the outlet 41 of the exchanger 60. a

As herein shown the leads from the tour thermocouples 56, 61,63 and 59 run tovisual indicator dials 66, 61, 63 and 69, respectively, on

' which the temperatures reported by the thermo- Hence by the time the liquorreaches and passes over the top edge of the weir 26 into the .here.

to be found available in the market and are mocouple 60, however, run to a thermostatic control device I0, which serves to, operate the pneumatically'controlled valves 53 and 63. The valve 63 is controlled directly by the device I0, while the valve 53 is controlled by the device 10 through a pneumatic relay 65. Compressed air is supplied to both the device 10 and the relay 55 from any suitable source through a hand valve 64. Dials II and 12 show, respectively, the pressure of the air supplied through the valve 64 and through the device 10.

The details of the structures and modes of operation of the thermostatic control device 10, pneumatic relay 65 and pneumatically controlled valves 53 and 63 are no part of this invention and so are not disclosed and described in detail Suitable devices for their functions, are

more particularly pictured and described, for example, in the current published catalog of The Powers Regulator Company, of 2720 Greenview Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, known as Bulletin No. 251, the device 10 being shown on page 2 thereof, the relay 65 on page 3 thereof, and valves such as 53 and 63 on page 5 thereof.

There are two phases in the operation of the apparatus which have to be considered, normal running and starting. Assuming thatthe apparatus has been shut down for some time, e. g.

over Saturday and Sunday, the body of liquor in the tank 25 is atabout room temperature and must be heated to 135 F. before the machineserved by the apparatus can be set to work. Hence the supply cut off valve 43 is closed and the by-pass valve 23 is set to divert liquor coming from the exchanger 40 into and through the T 2| and the valve 22 and thus to the distributor 24. The pumps 36 and 45 are then set in action. The pump 36 will then circulate the liquor from the tank through the heat exchanger 40 and back to the tank, none passing up the valve 43 and pipe 44 to the machines.

At the same time the valve 62 is opened to supply steam as the controlling fluid for the exchanger 50; and the valve 84 is opened to supply compressed air for the thermostat i0 and relay 55.

The pump 45 now drives the water which is the controlling fluid in the exchanger 40 and the controlled fluid in the exchanger 50, in its closed circuit through the two exchangers. Being considerably below its predetermined proper temperature; it will affect the thermocouple 65 to actuate the thermostat Ill to open the valve 63 to admit steam from the pipe,5l to the exchanger 50. At the actuates the relay 65 allowing no water to be bled out of the system at 54 and hence allowing no cold water to enter the system through the valve 55. The circulating water receives heat from the steam at same time the device 14 and transfers it to the circulating liquor at 4IJ until the dials 68 and 69 show that the .liquor is at the prescribed temperature. The valve 43 is then opened, and the by-pass valve 23 turned to cut off the re-circulation by-pass of the liquor and to open the path from valve 23 to valve 43. Liquor is then supplied through the pipe 44 to the machines to be served, and returns from them in normal fashion through the pipe 20 for clarifying and tempering.

to close the valve 53 tightly,

.various temperatures at, the thermocouples 56,

51, 58-, 59 and 60 are found to be quite rigorously tied together. It is merely a matter of convenience which one of the five thermocouples is connected to the thermostat 10. If any of them is too warm, all are; and if any is too cool, all are; though no two have the same temperature at the same tim they maintain substantially constant interrel tions.

If the liquor emerging at 39 from the exchanger. 40 is cooler than it should be, as shown by the thermocouple 59 on the dial 69. then the thermocouple 5!! is also too cool and will actuate the thermostat 10 to open the valve 53 to admit steam to the exchanger 50, and to close the valve 53. So also, if 59 is too warm, 60 is also too warm and will actuate 10 to close the valve 63 and to open the valve 53. Warm water then bleeds out of the water circuit at 54 and is re-.

placed by cold water entering at 55.

Thus there is a primary circulation of liquor to be clarified andv tempered through the tank 25 and the exchanger 40, operatively linked in the" exchanger 40 in heat exchanging relation with a secondary circulation of controlling fluid through the exchangers 40 and 50, which in turn is linked in the exchanger 50 in heat exchanging relation with a tertiary flow of fluid in the exchanger 50. Temperature responsive means whereby the means to temper the liquor in the primary circuit is automatically controlled may be located as convenience and preference may dictate in either the primary or secondary circuit of fluid. While the method and apparatus as disclosed employ water in the secondary circuit and steam in the tertiary circuit, any convenient or desired fluid, i. e. liquid or gas or The apparatus of the invention has a particular value in instances. such as the present illustrative case, where direct cooling of the liquor with a cold untempered cooling fluid, e. g. by running tap water without modification in the cooling fluid side duce difficulties. For example, if the liquor vherein particularly discussed be brought into contact with a surface having a temperature below about 90 the grease in the emulsion will be frozen out and deposited on the surface. Hence the importance in the present invention 1 of the three circulations interlinked in heat exchanging relation only in the two heat exchangers.

The particular liquor distributor 24 herein described and disclosed is not per so an invention herein claimed. as it isdisclosed and claimed in copending application Serial No. 312,671 filed of even date herewith by one of the present inventors and another.

of the exchanger 40, may intro- The apparatus disclosed and described is illustrative and may be modified and varied in many ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as pointed out in and limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for treating a liquor, means to circulate the liquor in a primary circuit, means to force circulation of .the liquid therein, means to circulate a heat tempering fluid in a closed secondary circuit having a heat exchanging relation to the primary circuit, means to force circulation of the fluid therein, means to circulate a second heat tempering fluid in a tertiary circuit having a heat exchanging relation to the secondary circuit, means actuable to release a portion of the first named fluid from the secondary circuit, means actuated by the. release of the fluid from the secondary circuit to replace the released portion with fresh untempered fluid, means actuable to control the flow of fluid in the tertiary circuit, temperature responsive means to report a temperature within the apparatus, and single means actuable by the temperature control means to simultaneously actuate the fluid releasing means'and the flow control means.

2. In an apparatus for treating a liquor, a first heat exchanger to receive a liquor to be heat tempered in'one side thereof and a heat tempering fluid in the other side thereof, a pump to circulate the liquor therein, a second heat exchanger to receive the said heat tempering fluid in one side thereof and a second heat tempering fluid in the other side thereof, a pump to circulate the first named fluid through the two exchangers, a valve to bleed away tempered fluid from the second side of the first exchanger and the first side of the second exchanger, a valve actuated by the bleeding away to supply untempered fluid to replace the fluid bled away, a valve to control the flow of the second named fluid in the second exchanger, a temperature responsive device'to report a temperature within the apparatus. and a device actuable by the temperature responsive device to simultaneously actuate both the'bleed valve and the control valve.

3. In an apparatus for treating a liquor, means to circulate the liquor in a primary circuit, means to force circulation of the liquor therein means to circulate a heat tempering fluid in a closed secondary circuit having a heat exchanging relation to the primary circuit, means to force circulation of the fluid therein, means to circulate a second heat tempering fluid in a tertiary circuit having a heat exchanging relation to the secondary circuit, means actuable to release a portion of the first named fluid from the secondary circuit, means actuated by the release of the fluid from the secondary circuit to replace the released portion with fresh untempered fluid, means actuable to control the flow of fluid in the tertiary circuit, temperature responsive means in the secondary circuit to report the temperature of the fluid therein, and means actuable by the temperature control means to simultaneously actuate the fluid releasing means and the flow control means.

'4'. In an apparatus for treating a liquor, a first heat exchanger to receive a liquor to be heat tempered in one side thereof and a heat tempering fluid in the'other side thereof, a pump to circulate the liquor therein, a second heat exchanger to receive the said heat tempering fluid in one side thereof and a second heat tempering'fluid in the other side thereof, a pump to circulate the first named fluid through the two exchangers, a valve to bleed away tempered fluid from the second side of the first exchanger and the first side of the second exchanger, a valve actuated by the bleeding away to supply untempered fluid to replace the fluid bled away. a valve to control the flow of the second named fluid in the second exchanger. a temperature responsive device connected to the first named exchanger to report a temperature therein, and a deviceactuable by the temperature responsive device to simultaneously actuate both the bleed valve and the control valve.

HAROLD F. EN,TVVISTLE. MARK C. LEWIS. 

